On Sunday I had the pleasure of meeting several people and documenting their experience of learning to make glass beads at Hudson Beach Glass in Beacon, NY. In addition to the glass beads, I watched as an experienced glass blower created an ornament.
One thing I love in photography is taking photos of people doing something they are enthralled by. It always creates a unique image and is great storytelling. The expressions are authentic and there is no posing. It’s real.
And, ever since I visited Venice for the first time while in college, after having taken my first photojournalism course, I was very inspired to document the process of glass blowing – because I find it to be a very intriguing art and I’m passionate about capturing and sharing things that we are not used to thinking about or seeing. So, when my editor asked if I wanted to cover the glass workshops this past weekend as part of a series they are doing on “places to learn new things in 2013”, I was super excited to have the opportunity and access.
Walking into Hudson Beach Glass, on Main St in Beacon, a small-ish, artsy, comeback “city” in the Mid-Hudson Valley, you are surrounded by beautiful and delicate artistic pieces and all the colors in the visible spectrum. It’s truly gorgeous. Everything from large glass bowls to tiny animals and jewelry.
The bead making workshop, which is a weekend intensive and offered three times before June, shows how to make all kids of decorative beads with glass sticks and a torch – as well as other accessories that can create a layered and variegated effect in the beads.
Hudson Beach Glass also offers one-on-one glass-blowing lessons, were you can start by learning to make a paper-weight and eventually create very fragile glass ornaments.
See the photos by clicking on the image below and scrolling through, or on Newsday at this link, and read the article here.
As usual, all photos are © Caylena Cahill/CC Photo & Media, all rights reserved. If you wish to obtain a copy of any of the images, please contact me for further information.
